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Prayer

Delivered September 28, 2003,
by Pastor Werner De Jong

Text: Revelation 8:1-5

Main Idea: Because prayer is so important, both nurturing our relationship with God and helping to change things, followers of Christ need practical strategies for how to combat prayerlessness.

Purpose: To encourage the listeners to pray by highlighting the Bible's strong reassurance that prayer changes things. To provide some practical hints to help the listeners pray.

Introduction: Today I want to talk about the spiritual discipline of prayer. But as soon as the words prayer and discipline are mentioned in the same sentence, guilt feelings begin to rise up within many Christians. I've done enough reading and had enough experience with this subject to know that sometimes the best attempts to encourage people to pray backfire. Any book on prayer will tell you how important prayer is, how it is the central discipline of the spiritual life, how it is indispensable for maintaining a relationship with God. And that is all true. The Christian who prays little or not at all has a relationship with God that is little or not at all. Such a person can scarcely even begin to know what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus, to follow and obey our Master in daily life. How can we build a relationship with God, and hear from God, and obey God, if we do not pray? How can we say we love God if we don't even take the time to talk and to listen to God? It is for this reason that many writers on the spiritual life list prayerlessness among the greatest of all sins. But hearing such things won't necessarily help us to pray, it may only make us feel worse about our own performance.

      Many books on prayer will also tell us that prayer should be the main business of our lives, and they will then go on to list inspiring examples of people of prayer. Jesus rightly tops the list, and the gospels certainly record his prayer habits: sometimes he would stay up all night to pray, often he rose early in the morning to pray, but most important of all, he was always in communication with his Father, for he said: "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing" (John 5:19). In other words, Jesus prayed without ceasing, every moment of every day he was in contact with his Father. Following his death and resurrection, Jesus' disciples showed that they had learned from his example when they said, "We must devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word" (Acts 6:4). Great Christians throughout history have also emphasized prayer. Martin Luther declared: "I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer." John Wesley said, "God does nothing but in answer to prayer." David Brainerd is best known for his devotional life, and he has inspired generations of Christians by the words he printed in his diary, words like this: "I love to be alone in my cottage where I can spend much time alone in prayer." Or: "I set apart this day for secret fasting and prayer to God" (Quotations as recorded in Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, p. 34). All of these are wonderful examples of praying people, but we may be discouraged rather than challenged when we hear about them. For if we try to measure ourselves up against them, we may fall very far short. We want to be great people of prayer, but we just cannot seem to get there. Therefore this morning I would like to consider how we can overcome barriers to prayer, how we can combat prayerlessness.

Overcoming Discouragement and Combatting Prayerlessness: First of all, however, it is very important to remember that God always meets us where we are and slowly moves us along into deeper things. The Creator of all living things definitely recognizes that growth is a process. God himself designed it that way. Just as our physical growth does not occur overnight, neither does our spiritual growth. God knows that, for God made us that way.

      We must be willing to be patient, for prayer is a learning process that we engage in throughout our entire lives. Do you remember how Jesus reacted to his disciples' request to teach them how to pray? He didn't rebuke them saying, "You foolish disciples, here you are, adult men, who have grown up with prayer in the Jewish tradition, and still you don't know how to pray, even after being with me all this time." No, Jesus graciously accepted them where they were at, and encouraged and challenged them in their desire to become better praying people. On that occasion he introduced them to what we call "the Lord's Prayer." On several other occasions Jesus would return to the subject, using parables to teach the disciples about the importance of persisting in prayer, or encouraging them to approach the Father in prayer with child like trust.

      Assuming that we want to obey Jesus and grow as people of prayer, as his original twelve disciples did, how can we overcome the barriers that so often prevent us from doing so? How can we combat prayerlessness?

Today's Text: Prayer Changes Things: As a first step, it is necessary to identify the major barriers that often hamper our prayer lives. One major barrier is this: our struggle to believe that our prayers really make a difference. It is easy to be defeated at the outset if we don't have faith that prayer really changes things. Dallas Willard puts it this way: "The idea that everything would happen exactly as it does regardless of whether we pray or not is a spectre that haunts the minds of many who sincerely profess belief in God. It makes prayer psychologically impossible, replacing it with dead ritual at best" (The Divine Conspiracy, p. 244). Quite often it is the testimony of Christians that they feel as if their prayers go unheard, that they simply bounce off of the ceiling and fall back down to earth.

      We are not alone if we feel that way. This morning's text comes from the book of Revelation, in which John was granted a series of visions to deliver to seven churches in Asia Minor that were being persecuted for their faith. The mighty Roman Empire was growing increasingly intolerant of Christianity, and great pressure was put on many Christians to renounce their faith. Some were put to death, others had property confiscated, others lost their jobs, and the majority had to live with the threat of such things hanging over their heads. At such a time many of the believers must have naturally turned to God in prayer. "Help us Lord. Deliver us." But many wondered if their prayers made any difference at all. It is precisely to these skeptical believers, desperately in need of encouragement, that the first five verses of our morning Scripture text, Revelation 8, are written.

      Chapter 6 spoke about the opening of six seals in God's heavenly throne room, and as each seal is opened progressively worse pictures of conquest, violence, oppression and economic hardship are revealed. The opening of the seals tell the tragic tale of human sin and wickedness and God's judgment upon it. But then the seventh and final seal is opened. At this point the readers might expect to hear about evil and hardship and the terrors of judgment reaching an absolute climax. But they do not. What do they hear? Absolutely nothing. John records that when the seventh seal was opened, there was sheer silence in heaven, for about half an hour. Even the angels and the elders around God's throne ceased their singing. All the noisy clamour and terrible commotion of the first six visions has been replaced by complete stillness. An awesome hush settles in heaven. Why? What is the purpose of this holy silence? One commentator answers that question very well. He says, quite simply, that "silence is for listening" (William Pender, Revelation, Interpretation Bible Studies, p. 58). What is God listening to? What could be so important as to command the undivided attention of the Holy One seated on his great throne? If we read the next few verses, the answer becomes clear: God is listening to the prayers of his people. For we immediately read of an angel, standing by an altar and burning incense in a golden censer, into which he mixes the prayers of God's people. If you have ever been present when incense was burned, you know that a little goes a very long way. It has the capacity to fill space, to penetrate and invade every nook and cranny. This is how John sees our prayers–rather than bouncing off the ceiling, they rise up to the presence of God, and permeate the entirety of God's great throne room. God in turn silences all of heaven so that he won't miss hearing a single one.

      What is most remarkable about this vision is not simply the heartwarming picture of God giving undivided attention to our prayers. It is that God acts in response to our prayers. For John records in this vision how the censer is thrown down to earth, and a new series of visions immediately follow which speak of God's judgment upon the wicked and the oppressors. The Bible's teaching on prayer, both here and in many other places, always leads to the same conclusion: prayer changes things. When God's people on earth pray, heaven hears, and answers, and things change on earth. No wonder the apostle Paul speaks of us as "co-labourers with God" (1 Cor. 3:9). God chooses to cooperate with us as we pray and as we work to determine the outcome of events. Our prayers do make a difference. God gives us such pictures to encourage our faith, the very faith Jesus said is essential for answered prayer. Such faith will knock down the barrier of doubt, and give us courage to come into God's presence in prayer. That is a tremendous start.

Dealing with Distractions: But once we do that, there are other significant barriers that we sometimes face. Many Christians do have the faith that God uses their prayers to change things, but they are frustrated by other factors when they begin to pray. As we examine these, we will be led into some very practical considerations regarding prayer.

      First of all, many sincere Christians have lamented that after they settle down to pray, they have a very difficult time concentrating. Has that ever happened to you? Do you ever find other thoughts crowd your mind and distract you while you are trying to pray? It can be a very frustrating experience. We often leave behind a world of frantic and frenzied activity, and rush into the presence of God. Despite our good intentions our prayers may flounder and sputter because we cannot focus. If that has been your experience, let me say first of all that you are not alone. At various times every Christian struggles with distractions. But what do we do then?

      Many of the great masters of prayer throughout the centuries have written of this very thing, and we can learn a lot from their writings. Unfortunately the modern church has often ignored their wisdom, or forgotten about it, but thankfully this is beginning to change. A friend of our family, Mark Harris, has written a book designed to renew our interest in the spiritual disciplines of the saints entitled "Companions for Your Spiritual Journey. " In it he includes a chapter on Origen, who was one of the early church fathers, and who wrote a treatise entitled "On Prayer"(for a summary see Companions for Your Spiritual Journey, Inter Varsity Press, chapter 6). As Harris writes, Origen directly tackles the problem of distractions and prayer. He does so "by admonishing us to pay attention to the way we prepare ourselves to pray" (p. 61).

      I don't know that I have ever heard anyone give much thought to that subject, but it is important, for like any other demanding activity prayer requires a certain level of preparation. If you think about it, we make a dramatic transition when we leave behind our noisy world and silence ourselves before God. The pace of life is such that our minds are often racing at a fast speed, and we can't expect that our train of thought will immediately slow down as soon as we say, "Dear God." Just like it takes a certain amount of time for a railway train to slow down and come to a rest after the brakes are applied, it also takes a certain amount of time for our train of thought to slow down before we can centre ourselves and truly rest in God's presence. We need a time "to apply the brakes," a time to slow our thoughts and to begin to focus on God.

      But how do we prepare ourselves? What does this time of preparation look like? As you might expect, the answer to that will vary from person to person. We are all different, and different preparation techniques will work better for different people. We will all need to discover for ourselves what works best for us. However, there are a few techniques that are widely attested to by many people. Some people like to prepare themselves to pray by listening to excellent music. For example, I remember reading once how Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the great preacher of the mid-twentieth century, found listening to Mozart an excellent way to put his mind and spirit in the right place to meet with God. Other people find that going for a brisk walk does the same thing for them, by helping to relieve tension. Many writers encourage Christians to do some devotional reading before they begin to pray. This is one of my preferred practices. I often begin by reading a Psalm or other devotional material that leads my mind to think about our great and good God. At the same time, I enjoy having a hot drink in my hands when I meet with God, for there is just something about a hot drink that speaks of friendship and relationship. Still other people find it helpful to slow down by taking a series of deep breaths, or by simply focussing on their breathing. One final suggestion that some people find helpful is to focus on a physical object, like a flower or a lit candle. I have been meeting nearly once a month with a spiritual director in Moncton, and she begins every session by lighting a candle and drawing my attention to it with words like these: "this light represents the presence of Jesus with us." To be honest, I haven't found that very helpful, but some people do, especially people who are more visually oriented. Again, we all need to discover what works best for us. As Mark Harris writes, "We will each clothe ourselves for prayer with our own distinctive ways, but if we hope to get anywhere in our prayer lives we need to discover those rites of preparation that work best for us, and we need to practice them with diligence" (p. 62).

      That is wonderful advice. Those who pay careful attention to preparation will certainly find their prayer lives enriched. But even this isn't a guarantee that once we begin to pray we will not occasionally find ourselves distracted. What do we do then? Having approached God in faith, and having diligently prepared ourselves, what do we do if we still find our minds wandering?

      Here again we can learn from those who have gone before us. There is a rich treasury of advice on prayer that the church is thankfully rediscovering. When our minds wander when we pray, it can sometimes make us feel guilty that we are not more spiritual, and such thoughts are not helpful for the prayer life. In that case the distractions themselves become a distraction. It may leave us feeling defeated, or like failures, for try as we might, our minds keep coming back to the same issue. In preparing this message I came across an excellent hint on the very subject of distractions that has already helped my own prayers this week.

      The suggestion of some masters on prayer is this: rather than try to fight against our distracting thoughts when we pray, it can be helpful to pull them into our prayers. When our minds wander, they often wander to matters or concerns that are very important to us or to people around us. For example, we may think about someone who has hurt us, or someone whom we have hurt. We may think about unfinished business, and all that we still need to accomplish. Now could it not be that such distracting thoughts are actually an indication of the very thing we need to bring to God? As John Ortberg writes, "It may well be that when your mind wanders, it is wandering to what your heart most needs to speak to God about" (The Life You've Always Wanted, p. 102). I for one find that suggestion very helpful. Rather than viewing distracting thoughts as a barrier to prayer, many of them may actually be stepping stones to help us pray. When we pray about them, we pray about matters close to our heart, and doing so consequently frees us and releases us to intercede about other concerns.

What to Pray About: Finally this morning I would like to close with a few thoughts on what we should actually pray about when we do come before God. In addressing this subject I don't mean to suggest that prayer is one-sided, that we should do all the talking, for much time in prayer should be spent simply listening to God. But that is another message altogether. I raise the concern of what we should pray about because this is also a barrier to the prayer lives of some people.

      The primary problem is this: some Christians find prayer very discouraging, and sometimes give it up, because they try to imitate the lofty prayers of other people. They hear other people praying about world peace, or the famine in Africa, or missionaries in the Philippines, or for some global economic conference. These are all subjects which are worthy of our intercession, and as we grow in our ability to pray, we will pray more and more for things outside of our immediate circle. But if we start by praying for such things, and focus exclusively or primarily on them, on things that, if we are really honest, we might not care about as much as we know we should, it can actually hinder our efforts to pray. Dallas Willard puts it this way: "Prayer simply dies from efforts to pray about ‘good things' that honestly do not matter to us. The way to get to meaningful prayer for those good things is to start by praying for what we are truly interested in....Many people have found prayer impossible because they thought they should only pray for wonderful but remote needs they actually had little or no interest in or even knowledge of" (The Divine Conspiracy, p. 242).

      On the other hand, when we include in our prayers the simple needs and concerns of our daily lives, it can greatly strengthen our prayer life. For it helps us to see that God is interested in us, even in the small details of our lives. Jesus taught us to pray such simple prayers when he encouraged his disciples to ask God for their daily bread, or when he encouraged his disciples to pray about their relationships (forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us). Such simple prayers are actually the most common types of prayer found in the Scriptures. Again and again we read about God's people praying about the matters that mean the most to them. As we learn God's care for us in these areas, then we will be encouraged and find it easier to enlarge our circle of concern and intercede for these other important needs. But we must never think that we cannot bring to God the simple concerns of our everyday living. God delights to hear those prayers, and when we feel free to bring them to God, a warm, trusting relationship is able to grow.

Conclusion: It is time now to conclude. The subject of prayer is so vast that we could talk about it for weeks. But this morning we've tried to focus on some practical areas that will help enrich our prayer lives. We've looked at various barriers to prayer, and how to overcome them. Doubts that our prayers make any difference can be overcome by remembering and meditating on the scene from Revelation 8, where John's vision reveals that all heaven is stilled in order that God may hear our prayers, which are so precious to him. Not only that, the vision revealed how our prayers help change things, as God answers them. As we come before God with this confidence distractions may threaten to waylay us, but we can overcome them by taking the time to prepare ourselves to pray, and if certain distractions persist, it can be helpful to pull them into our prayer lives. Finally, if we are wondering what to pray about, we've seen how much God values our simple, everyday prayers, when with childlike trust we bring to him the concerns that are on our hearts. Given all of this, let us recommit ourselves to be a people of prayer, a people who delight to commune with their loving heavenly Father. Amen.

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